365 Things In 365 Days For 365 Euros

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Things 9 & 10

I’ve learned over the years that one way to reduce panic and stress in my life is by having a gift stash. Yesterday’s post was a case in point: last minute teacher gifts pulled from my growing 365 Stash. So while I don’t have an immediate recipient for today’s project, I’m sure it will eventually be just what I am looking for. Today’s project? A baby hat and booties, soft and sweet, for some as-yet-unborn baby girl.

A half-skein of lovely grey Lana Grossa super soft merino languished in the bottom of my yarn basket. I picked up some soft pink in the same line from my yarn lady, and got to work.

I found a basic baby hat pattern here. Using a 5mm hook, I started with the pink yarn. Since I didn’t want a folded up cuff, I shortened it by a few rows and added a contrast band of grey: one row of single crochet, one row of crab stitch (my favourite finishing stitch for hats and blankets. I learned it from this youtube tutorial.)

A long time ago I found a flower pattern in the free pattern directory at Crochetville.com and since then I’ve made dozens as appliqués. I can’t find it at their website anymore, and the address at the bottom of my printout is no longer valid. Good thing I printed it out. Using that pattern, I crocheted a pink flower with a grey centre. A perfect girly embellishment!

For the booties I went to Repeat Crafter Me. This blog is a treasure trove of awesomeness. So many patterns! I could spend my entire 365 project here. But this time I was just looking for booties. I found what I was looking for at the bottom of this rain boots pattern. See the pink and grey version, with the sweet little flower? That was my inspiration.

My first go was a failure – I got lost in some of the instructions – but Round 2 was a hit. I crocheted two basic 5-petal flowers for the finishing touch.

My wrists and elbows thanked me for this project. I usually crochet amigurumis, where tighter is better. My hands are still sore from crocheting Elsa and Anna dolls yesterday — more on that next week. This hat and booties set, crocheted gently with a larger hook, were downright soothing to make.

Cost of these Things: €4.95 (for the pink wool)
Cost of all Things to date: €9.11